Dismounts- A Rant

You’re upside down. Hanging from just your legs. AHHH WHOOO you want to scream! You’ve been working towards this invert for months! It took every. Last, little, thing. In you just to get up here! Congratulations are in order!

Now what?

Aaannnd bail out.

Hello pole world! It’s been a little while since my last pole rant. But don’t worry, I’m back, rantier that ever 😉

I cannot stand, scratch that, Iloathepeople who teach others how to flip upside down before teaching them how to dismount properly. And yet sadly, I have clients come to me for just this reason.

Before you ever learn a move,any move, you should already know how to get out of it. Coming out of your first wrist seat? Dismount properly. Just did you first invert? Dismount properly. Finally learned extended butterfly? Dismount properly.

I don’t care how good you are, you should always have an exit strategy that is more clear than “bail out”.

And basic inverts seem to be the worst offenders. Time and time again I see people who either get stuck on the pole or who seem to think a weird cartwheel is appropriate to get right side up. The cartwheel drives me even more mad when my thought process follows the lines of “if they are unable to control a dismount they should probably not be inverting in the first place”.

Along with a safety dismount, there are three others I teach to all students:

Twist dismount

Chopper dismount

Snake dismount

Before my clients are even allowed upside down, they must demonstrate the dismount on the floor. I prefer all of my clients to be comfortable performing a chopper dismount as it means that they are – for the most part- able to invert without a ginormous kick.

But never. Absolutely never. Should they feel stuck upside down. This is a cause for panic and injury.

So prior to learning (or teaching) any type of inverted move, ensure you understand how to dismount. Keep it controlled, planned and safe.

Happy Upside Down Flipping 🙂

Want to know how to learn pole properly? Safely? With proper progressions to make you a badass? Check out these sessions.